Chapter Four of The Ribbon Bar Article, Part Two: The Empire Strikes Back!
As a kingdom co-equal in dignity with Prussia, Bavaria, and Württemberg, Saxony retained privileges which included the right to precedence of its own awards before those of any other German state, with one exception--the Prussian Iron Cross.
Like many of the smaller German states, Saxony had far fewer regulations for civilians to wear awards, with strict rules only governing members of the Saxon military. Saxony did insist on a rigid precedence of wear for its Orders and decorations, however, and had an unusually detailed set of rules concerning how many sash, star, commander etc grade awards could be worn on specific forms of dress.
The listing below is only concerned with awards that could be worn on medal and ribbon bars. This is the precedence decreed in 1905, as continued throughout World War One.
1) Saint Henry Order-Knight
2) Saint Henry Order-Gold Medal
3) Saint Henry Order-Silver Medal
4) Civil Merit Order-Knights (1st, then 2nd) with Swords
5) Civil Merit Order-Cross with Swords
6) Albert Order-Knight 1st Class with Crown and Swords
7) Albert Order-Knights (1st, then 2nd) with Swords
8) Albert Order-Cross with Swords
9) General Decoration (later Honor Cross) with Swords
10) Friedrich August Medal-Silver, Bronze on War Ribbon
11) Prussian Iron Cross 2nd Class
12) Civil Merit Order-Knights(1st, then 2nd) without swords
13) Civil Merit Order-Cross without swords
14) Civil Merit Order-Medals (to 1876) Gold, Silver
15) Albert Order-Knight 1st Class with Crown without swords
16) Albert Order-Knights (1st, then 2nd) without swords
17) Albert Order-Cross without swords
18) Albert Order-Medals (to 1876) Gold, Silver
19) Saxon Lifesaving Medals-Gold, Silver, Bronze
20) General Decoration (later Honor Cross) without swords
20a) (unlisted originally) Friedrich August Medals-Silver, Bronze on peacetime ribbons
21) Carola Medals- Gold, Silver, Bronze
22) 1870/71 Cross for Voluntary care of the Sick
the above were to be worn in the listed precedence by all Saxon recipients, and aside from the lowly rank of their atypically multi-grade Lifesaving Medals, follow pretty much the standard Imperial era German "war before peace" precedence usage.
The following order of wear was prescribed only for Saxon military personnel--
23) 1866 War Cross
24) 1849 War with Denmark Cross (created in 1874)
25) 1863/4 Cross for Denmark Federal Action (created 1890)
26) 1849 Cross (for those who did NOT see war action--created 1890)
27) XXV Years Long Service Cross
28) Long Service Awards for enlisted ranbks 1st, 2nd, 3rd Class
29) Reserve-Landwehr Long Service Awards
Note that there is NO mention in here of the Reichs 1870/71 War Medal or of the 1897 Kaiser Wilhelm I Centenary Medal, which all Saxon 1870/71 veterans were entitled to. Nor was the 1900/01 China Medal mentioned. (The 1904/06 Southwest Africa and 1913 generic Colonial Campaigns Medal had yet to be created.)
Nor were there ANY prescribed rules for the wearing of all other unspecified German and foreign awards!
Saxony was also unusual among Imperial states in allowing multiple grades of the same award (say, both Knights' classes of the Albert Order with Swords) to be worn together. Other states required that a lower grade be returned when a higher of the same type was bestowed.
Another Saxon peculiarity was placement of Long Service awards AFTER war/campaign crosses/medals--the opoosite of normal Imperial German practice.
The MOST distinctly Saxon difference in precedence is the official placement of both Saint Henry Order MEDALS-- awarded ONLY to enlisted ranks-- ahead of even wartime Orders-- with the obvious exception of the Knight's Cross of the Saint Henry Order itself. This indicates exactly how highly the Saint Henry Medals were rated by the Saxon monarchy. The only close comparison in any Imperial German award is the Prussian Lifesaving Medal--awarded without regard for recipients' status--ahead of all Prussian peacetime Orders. In no other case that I can think of was any "other ranks" award in Imperial Germany placed before officers' Orders the way the Saint Henry Order Medals were. (In the 1930s, these may, indeed, be found IMPROPERLY mounted behind Saxon war Orders.)
The WWI Saxon War Merit Cross-- certainly one of the vaguest awards ever created--see previous postings in this Forum on this cross--did not specify in what position it was to have been worn!
As a kingdom co-equal in dignity with Prussia, Bavaria, and Württemberg, Saxony retained privileges which included the right to precedence of its own awards before those of any other German state, with one exception--the Prussian Iron Cross.
Like many of the smaller German states, Saxony had far fewer regulations for civilians to wear awards, with strict rules only governing members of the Saxon military. Saxony did insist on a rigid precedence of wear for its Orders and decorations, however, and had an unusually detailed set of rules concerning how many sash, star, commander etc grade awards could be worn on specific forms of dress.
The listing below is only concerned with awards that could be worn on medal and ribbon bars. This is the precedence decreed in 1905, as continued throughout World War One.
1) Saint Henry Order-Knight
2) Saint Henry Order-Gold Medal
3) Saint Henry Order-Silver Medal
4) Civil Merit Order-Knights (1st, then 2nd) with Swords
5) Civil Merit Order-Cross with Swords
6) Albert Order-Knight 1st Class with Crown and Swords
7) Albert Order-Knights (1st, then 2nd) with Swords
8) Albert Order-Cross with Swords
9) General Decoration (later Honor Cross) with Swords
10) Friedrich August Medal-Silver, Bronze on War Ribbon
11) Prussian Iron Cross 2nd Class
12) Civil Merit Order-Knights(1st, then 2nd) without swords
13) Civil Merit Order-Cross without swords
14) Civil Merit Order-Medals (to 1876) Gold, Silver
15) Albert Order-Knight 1st Class with Crown without swords
16) Albert Order-Knights (1st, then 2nd) without swords
17) Albert Order-Cross without swords
18) Albert Order-Medals (to 1876) Gold, Silver
19) Saxon Lifesaving Medals-Gold, Silver, Bronze
20) General Decoration (later Honor Cross) without swords
20a) (unlisted originally) Friedrich August Medals-Silver, Bronze on peacetime ribbons
21) Carola Medals- Gold, Silver, Bronze
22) 1870/71 Cross for Voluntary care of the Sick
the above were to be worn in the listed precedence by all Saxon recipients, and aside from the lowly rank of their atypically multi-grade Lifesaving Medals, follow pretty much the standard Imperial era German "war before peace" precedence usage.
The following order of wear was prescribed only for Saxon military personnel--
23) 1866 War Cross
24) 1849 War with Denmark Cross (created in 1874)
25) 1863/4 Cross for Denmark Federal Action (created 1890)
26) 1849 Cross (for those who did NOT see war action--created 1890)
27) XXV Years Long Service Cross
28) Long Service Awards for enlisted ranbks 1st, 2nd, 3rd Class
29) Reserve-Landwehr Long Service Awards
Note that there is NO mention in here of the Reichs 1870/71 War Medal or of the 1897 Kaiser Wilhelm I Centenary Medal, which all Saxon 1870/71 veterans were entitled to. Nor was the 1900/01 China Medal mentioned. (The 1904/06 Southwest Africa and 1913 generic Colonial Campaigns Medal had yet to be created.)
Nor were there ANY prescribed rules for the wearing of all other unspecified German and foreign awards!
Saxony was also unusual among Imperial states in allowing multiple grades of the same award (say, both Knights' classes of the Albert Order with Swords) to be worn together. Other states required that a lower grade be returned when a higher of the same type was bestowed.
Another Saxon peculiarity was placement of Long Service awards AFTER war/campaign crosses/medals--the opoosite of normal Imperial German practice.
The MOST distinctly Saxon difference in precedence is the official placement of both Saint Henry Order MEDALS-- awarded ONLY to enlisted ranks-- ahead of even wartime Orders-- with the obvious exception of the Knight's Cross of the Saint Henry Order itself. This indicates exactly how highly the Saint Henry Medals were rated by the Saxon monarchy. The only close comparison in any Imperial German award is the Prussian Lifesaving Medal--awarded without regard for recipients' status--ahead of all Prussian peacetime Orders. In no other case that I can think of was any "other ranks" award in Imperial Germany placed before officers' Orders the way the Saint Henry Order Medals were. (In the 1930s, these may, indeed, be found IMPROPERLY mounted behind Saxon war Orders.)
The WWI Saxon War Merit Cross-- certainly one of the vaguest awards ever created--see previous postings in this Forum on this cross--did not specify in what position it was to have been worn!
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